Powerful Commander Cards Coming to MTG Arena

Last updated on April 30, 2025

Caldera Pyremaw – Illus.Johann Bodin

Since yesterday, five Tarkir: Dragonstorm Brawl decks are now available in the MTG Arena Store, and they include all ten of the face commanders from Tarkir Commander Precons. In that sense, they are pretty similar to tabletop Commander precons you can buy from your favorite LGS – in this case, you can buy each of these pre-constructed Brawl decks from the MTG Arena Store.

What's more: You don't actually need to buy the precon Brawl deck if you just want the commander (or any other card in it). All cards, the commanders included, are craftable with wildcards.

MTG Arena players seem very happy to see Commander cards making their way to the videogame, even though they wish they had done it for Commander-only cards from previous sets. They also wish this was extended to all Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander cards and not just the Commanders – there are about 40 TDM cards that won't be coming to Arena this time, and Brawl players won't be able to brew with hot new cards like Colossal Grave-Reaver or Goldlust Triad. 

“Glad this usually continues to be a thing, but hopefully we start getting some of the 99 too,” notes u/fulvano “I'm sad every time I remember I can't add either Pyrogoyf or Barrowgoyf to my deck.”

“I tried to build a raccoon Brawl deck but there's just not enough playable raccoons on Arena,” says u/WolfGuy77 “Having the precon exclusive ones would help a lot. I always get super jealous during spoiler season when all the Commander precon cards start getting spoiled and I know I can't play with any of them on Arena.”

But as it turns out, there are a couple more TDM cards that Brawl players will be able to toy with

Hidden Dragons

The Ur-Dragon – Illus. Jaime Jones

Alongside the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Brawl precons, Alchemy: Tarkir set also arrived this week. Alchemy cards are digital-only cards that are only available on Arena, usually with some mechanics that are too complex or cumbersome to replicate in paper formats.

One such mechanic is Spellbook, which let you choose from a number of other cards (all these other created digitally out of thin air) to draft from and add to your hand. And, through this digital wizardry, you can draft cards that are neither in your deck or your sideboard – or even in the game!

Alchemy: Tarkir has one such Spellbook card in Dragon Typhoon, that will let you draft a dragon from it spellbook. Including two cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander that you can't actually add to your Brawl deck, or craft with wildcards: Caldera Pyremaw, and Thundermane Dragon. Dragon Typhoon also lets you draft Boltwing Marauder, a card from Dragons of Tarkir that is also non-craftable in Arena.

Non-craftable cards that you can only conjure digitally are a bit of a weird club in Arena, and they include powerhouses such as the Power Nine, which you can get via Oracle of the Alpha. The MTG Arena devs have said, in a recent WeeklyMTG stream, that they are considering making some of those cards craftable – which may mean you'll be able to add Commander-exclusive cards like Caldera Pyremaw directly in your Arena deck.

Are The Ten TDM Commanders Part of Tarkir: Dragonstorm Alchemy?

Zurgo Stormrender – Illus. Lie Setiawan

No, they are not. The Tarkir Brawl precons and the Tarkir: Alchemy set are different digital products.

There's some confusion on social media given the way that the original announcement was worded in the MTG Arena State of the Game article a couple of weeks ago, and in a previous Arena Announcement article.

“We've conjured up something very special alongside this Alchemy drop,” the article reads,  “the ten Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander face cards to power your Brawl decks.”

In this case, “alongside” meant “We'll release these Commanders the same day as the Alchemy drop,” but didn't mean they were part of Tarkir: Alchemy.

The Brawl decks and the Alchemy cards are different products. You won't find the commanders by cracking Tarkir: Alchemy packs.

Will The Rest of the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Cards Come to Arena?

While they haven't confirmed anything, WotC has indeed been experimenting with different ways to add the Commander-only cards from a Standard set to Arena.

On a few occasions they've added them to the Mastery Pass. In the Mastery Pass for Outlaws of Thunder Junction last year, for example, you could get the four face Commanders from the OTJ Precons, like Olivia, Opulent Outlaw or Stella Lee, Wild Card. The Tarkir Brawl precons released this week are another way that WotC is testing to put the face commanders into digital Magic.

The MTG Arena devs have also mentioned that they are considering doing Anthologies, where you can buy a curated list of impactful cards for a given format. And those anthologies could include currently non-craftable cards, like those from spellbooks.

While Alchemy and digital-only mechanics remain a divisive topic among Arena players, Brawl is quickly becoming one of the most popular formats on MTG Arena. It looks like WotC has taken notice, and if the latest Brawl precons are any indication of things to come, this may be their preferred way to bring more Commander into the digital platform.

Will Commanders like Y'shtola, Night Blessed from Final Fantasy Be Available on Arena?

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed – Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Again, we can only speculate, but if WotC added all ten face commanders from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and given Final Fantasy‘s humongous popularity – it's very possible that they will.

Who knows? They may even adapt Arena's Through the Omenpaths version of Spider-Man to include Arena's version of Spider-Man Eternal cards, like Green Goblin.